Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Sabina Khan here to share about her YA contemporary/multicultural the love & lies of Rukhsana Ali. It is set in Bangladesh and sounds like a poignant story about family and being true to yourself.

Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali tries her hardest to live up to her conservative Muslim parents’ expectations, but lately she’s finding that harder and harder to do. She rolls her eyes instead of screaming when they blatantly favor her brother and she dresses conservatively at home, saving her crop tops and makeup for parties her parents don’t know about. Luckily, only a few more months stand between her carefully monitored life in Seattle and her new life at Caltech, where she can pursue her dream of becoming an engineer.

But when her parents catch her kissing her girlfriend Ariana, all of Rukhsana’s plans fall apart. Her parents are devastated; being gay may as well be a death sentence in the Bengali community. They immediately whisk Rukhsana off to Bangladesh, where she is thrown headfirst into a world of arranged marriages and tradition. Only through reading her grandmother’s old diary is Rukhsana able to gain some much needed perspective.

Rukhsana realizes she must find the courage to fight for her love, but can she do so without losing everyone and everything in her life?

Hi Sabina! Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

First of all, thank you so much for having me. So a little bit about me: I’m an immigrant from Bangladesh and I’ve now lived in North America for 26 years which is longer than I’ve lived anywhere else which includes Germany, where I was born and lived until I was 8, Bangladesh, where I spent my childhood and teens and Macao, where I completed my first 2 years of university. I live in British Columbia now with my husband and daughters and a puppy who is the centre of our world. I’m an educational consultant by day and work with students who are struggling with Math, Chemistry and other subjects at school. I became a writer because I was tired of never seeing characters who looked like me in all the books I read and then seeing that pattern continue as my daughters became readers.

2. I bet that you'll be able to really get inspiration from all the places you lived in your writing. Where did you get the idea for the love & lies of Rukhsana Ali?

When my daughter came out us a couple of years ago, we had a lot of conversations about other teens who were struggling about coming out to their families for fear of rejection or even worse, for their safety. I wanted to write a story about a Muslim teen who goes through all of the pain and difficulty of trying to stay true to herself but comes out stronger while also changing the hearts of the people she loves along the way. I wanted to highlight the many different mindsets within a single community and how there is much work to be done but that there are also many allies.

3. Your story is partially set in Bangladesh, and I know that you lived there once. How much did you rely on your own experiences and how much on research in using this as the setting for your story?

I relied mostly on my experiences growing up there. I lived there from the time I was 8 until I was 25 years old, so I have many meaningful memories that I cherish. I also have a lot of family still living there, so it’s easy to keep up with the changes that have occurred in the 25 years since I left.

4. That's great you could draw on your own experiences and those of family. Your story tackles some heavy issues, like being gay, dealing with traditional Muslim family values, and being forced into an arranged marriage that was not happy. How did you incorporate this all into your story in a way that was accurate, compelling, but not preachy?

I have some personal experience with being on the receiving end of discrimination and judgement for whom I decided to spend my life with, and a lot of those feelings made it into the story in some way or another. But I also wanted to make sure that readers were aware that no culture or religion is a monolith. Rukhsana finds unexpected allies within the Bengali Muslim community and struggles to make her American friends open their minds to try and understand her circumstances. A lot of the emotions are ones I and my family have felt living both here and in our respective homelands and I think it goes a long way towards being compelling if you’ve actually lived through something similar.

5. Share a bit about your main character, Rukhsana. Did her character development come easy to you or was it a struggle? Why?

Rukhsana’s character is based heavily on both my daughters, although her experiences are quite far

from anything my daughters have ever been through, so it wasn’t too difficult to write her in a natural way. And thankfully, my daughters gave me a lot of valuable feedback as I was writing her story. Some parts of her character are based on my own younger self, especially when she lashes out at the way she’s being treated by both her family and her friends.

6. Your agent is Hillary Jacobson. How did she become your agent and what was your road to publication like? I entered Pitch Wars in 2016 and was paired with an amazing mentor, Natasha Neagle, who helped me polish my manuscript and get it ready for the agent round. I had offers from several agents afterwards and after careful consideration I decided to sign with Hillary. It was undeniably the best decision of my writing career. Hillary is a highly intelligent, savvy and incredibly supportive advocate and I rely on her valuable insight every step of the way.

7. I've been hearing lots of good things about the pitch wars. Your book was released on January 29, 2019 in the United States. How did you promote your book both pre-release and when it came out both in British Columbia where you live and the U.S.?

I did an international pre-order campaign, giveaways, interviews and event appearances. I am fortunate to be working with a publisher like Scholastic, who have done so much to promote this book. I know that this is not always the case and I am immensely grateful to them for their unwavering support and incredible promotional efforts.

8. What do you think worked and what you do differently in the time from signing your contract with your publisher until your book’s release in terms of building your social platform and getting the word out for your book? I honestly can’t think of anything right now that I would do differently and even though it’s too soon to quantify, I’m sure every little bit helped in different ways and to a varying extent. I was already pretty active on Twitter when I signed and in the two years since then I’ve been fortunate to find a very supportive online community. We support each other and promote each other’s work as much as possible. I’ve relied on the encouragement and wisdom of my fellow debut authors as well as those who have already been on this journey.

9. What are you working on now?

At the moment I’m working on another YA Contemporary which deals with Islamophobia and immigration. Hopefully I’ll be able to share much more soon.

Sabina has generously offered an ARC of the love & lies of Rukhsana Ali. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through March 30th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book giveaway is U.S. and the query critique giveaway is U.S. and Canada.

Here's what's coming up:

Monday, March 25th I have an agent spotlight interview with Katelyn Uplinger and a query critique giveaway

Wednesday, April 3rd I have an interview with debut author Gillian McDunn and a giveaway of her MG contemporary CATEPILLAR SUMMER and my IWSG post

Monday, April 8th I have an interview with debut author Swati Teerhadla and a giveaway of her YA fantasy THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT

Wednesday, April 10th I have an agent spotlight interview with Mary Cummings and a query critique giveaway

Monday, April 15th I have an interview with author Tanya Drecker and a giveaway of her MG fantasy MUSIC BOXES

Monday, April 22nd I'm off

Monday, April 29th I have an agent spotlight interview with Devin Ross and a query critique giveaway

Happy Thursday Everyone! Today I am excited to participate in the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop hosted by by BookHounds. I've got a lot of new releases to share with you this month.

I hope you find a book you like for yourself, a family member, or a friend in the choices offered. Don’t see a book you like? You can win a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card instead. I hope you'll all enter to win a book or gift card for yourself or as a gift for someone.

So here are your choices. I've got a combination of MG and YA books that I hope you're looking forward to reading. Remember, if you want an earlier book in any of these series, you can pick that instead as long as it doesn't cost more than the book here. You can find descriptions of these books on Goodreads.

If you haven't found a book you want, you can win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

To enter, all you need to do is be a follower anyway you want and leave a comment throughMarch 28th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is International.

Here's what's coming up:

Monday, March 18th I have an interview with debut author Sabina Khan and a giveaway of her YA contemporary/multicultural the love & lies of Rukhsana Ali

Monday, March 25th I have an agent spotlight interview with Katelyn Uplinger and a query critique giveaway

Wednesday, April 3rd I have an interview with debut author Gillian McDunn and a giveaway of her MG contemporary CATEPILLAR SUMMER and my IWSG post

Monday, April 8th I have an interview with debut author Swati Teerhadla and a giveaway of her YA fantasy THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT

Wednesday, April 10th I have an agent spotlight interview with Mary Cummings and a query critique giveaway

Monday, April 15th I have an interview with author Tanya Drecker and a giveaway of her MG fantasy MUSIC BOXES

Monday, April 22nd I'm off

Monday, April 29th I have an agent spotlight interview with Devin Ross and a query critique giveaway

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I'm excited to have debut author Victoria Lee here with her agents Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty to celebrate her YA fantasy THE FEVER KING. The magic sounds really unique, and it's great to see a fantasy with a male main character.

In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.

The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks—refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son—cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful—and the way forward becomes less clear.

Caught between his purpose and his heart, Noam must decide who he can trust and how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of the greater good.

Now here are Victoria, Holly, and Taylor!

Taylor and Holly to Victoria:

Please tell us everything you know about psychology and the human brain in one paragraph. If that is too much, I guess we’ll settle for how does your research/teaching work influence your writing?

Probably the biggest influence is on my writing that stems from psychology/neuro research is my interest in character development. For better or for worse, I spend a lot of time thinking about why everyone in my books does what they do...including the villains. But I think there’s also an element of bringing psychology knowledge to inform how I structure a book, too. There’s a whole field of psychology that focuses on narrative and what we find most compelling or surprising or thrilling in a story. And when I’m reading a book I often find myself asking why I enjoy the parts I enjoy--or am surprised when I’m surprised--or bored when I’m bored. And a lot of times the answer is psychological--like: “I’m not personally experiencing enough cognitive dissonance from this book, so the tension feels manufactured.”

You are the master of the writers retreat. What are the must-have ingredients for a perfect writing getaway?

Well, me and my writing friend have noticed a trend: every airbnb we’ve rented for a writing retreat has come complete with taxidermied animal heads. Is the presence of a couple skulls necessary to pound out a few thousand words a day? You tell me. I will say that whiskey comes in handy, as does the perfect soundtrack, carefully-scheduled breaks, writing sprints, and a cheeseboard.

What do you do for self-care, given the demands of your two brilliant careers?

I have started doing Muay Thai, which is a style of martial arts. It’s been great for reducing my anxiety and building confidence. Plus, who doesn’t like to hit things sometimes?

I also really recommend bath bombs. Particularly the sparkly kind.

What have you discovered about yourself as a writer during the writing of your second book?

I’ve learned that it’s really important to plot even more than I’m already plotting. By which I mean: I need a still-more-detailed outline, so I avoid those mid-book crisis moments of “shit, something else needs to happen before this next part, but I have no idea what.”

You’re an *excellent* follow on Instagram. What accounts do you love to follow?

In terms of bookish accounts, my favorite is Tes at paperbackbones. She loves all the same books I do (Grishaverse, The Secret History) and her aesthetic is really on point.

I also recommend spinatale, booknerd_reads, and printedalphabet.

In terms of non bookish accounts: helena.moore’s style is incredible.

One of the things we loved about your book was the setting. Can you tell us more about how you built the physical world of The Fever King, and how you balanced real locations with your alt-history worldbuilding?

So the book is set in my hometown, as y’all know, and so writing in this setting was very close to my heart. I very much started from that—the foundation of reality—and built the alt history world building on top of it. All the differences between the Durhams end up being subtle in some ways...but they have major ramifications.

If your main characters, Noam and Dara, had to pick a crush from another novel’s cast of characters--who would their book-love be?

Noam would probably be in love with either Vasya from The Bear and the Nightingale or literally-Satan from The Master and Margarita.

Dara, on the other hand, would definitely go for a bad boy type like Ronan from The Raven Boys.

8. In The Fever King, your characters have to master the underlying scientific principles associated with their powers before they can make use of their magic. If you acquired witching powers today (ideally without the virus!) what powers would be 1) the most fun and 2) the most difficult for you to master?

“Without the virus” being the operative phrase! Hmm. Well, I think teleportation would be most fun because space is time so you could space travel and time travel. But it would probably also be the most difficult for me to master cause...physics. Ha.

Without giving too much away, what can readers expect from the sequel, The Electric Heir?

Ummm. It’ll be very dark. And twisted. And I’m so sorry. I really am.

Victoria to Holly & Taylor:

What is the most exciting part of being an agent for both of you?

Taylor votes for the joy of telling clients good news and the excitement of finding something new in the slush that you love and can’t wait to share with others. Holly thinks it’s getting a front-row seat when a book takes off and really finds its readers.

Holly has spent perhaps too much time thinking about this! But she’s still here, so clearly it’s all good. She would either go to medical school or run an adorable bra shop. Taylor would own a beachfront aerial yoga studio (ideally next door to Holly’s bra shop!).

What does a day in the agent life look like for y’all?

Every day is a little bit different, depending on whether we’re trying to get a submission out the door,

go over a tricky royalty statement, close a new deal, or strategize about an upcoming marketing plan. In general though, we find that it’s really important to set and protect our priorities for the day, because there is so much work to be done that you could do nothing but react to your inbox all day. And some days that’s what happens, but if you’re only ever reacting, you can’t advance your clients’ goals as much as you want, and that’s one of the biggest ways we’re adding value for our clients. So striking a balance between responsiveness and accomplishing the important--rather than just the momentarily urgent--is a big part of the day to day balance.

How do you know you’ve found an author you want to work with?

For Holly, it’s usually a book that moves me beyond the “should this be published?” and into “I have to be the one selling it.” Taylor wants to connect with the voice above all else. For both of us, we really pride ourselves on working with wonderful humans--kind, compassionate, thoughtful--and so we’re also looking to get a feel for whether an author has a similar mindset.

Do you see writing as a business? What suggestions do you have for authors about viewing themselves as entrepreneurs?

The IRS definitely sees writing as a business, and so to that we say: Keep your check stubs. KEEP YOUR CHECK STUBS. Seriously though, keep your check stubs. Every year we guide authors through tax season, and we have dealt with Schedule C ourselves too, so we speak from experience when we say the best thing you can do is right now, this very minute: designate a spot where you put every scrap of documentation related to money received or spent on your career as an author. If you’re next-level, also pop this data into a spreadsheet. Your book purchases, travel, commissions withheld by your agency, etc. are all deductible and keeping them all in one place is the best gift you can give your future self.

What is your top advice for anyone who might want to become an agent themselves?

The best way to learn this job is to work in very close proximity to someone who is doing it. We both came up under the apprenticeship path--working for established agents as assistants, then taking on our own clients--so we’re biased toward it, but also it is a proven, great way to learn the business. It’s really hard to get the kind of deep insight we both benefited from working remotely, which I know is a challenge for many people interested in the field. If there are reputable agents near you, it can never hurt to email and make your case for why you would be an asset to their agency; agent your way into an assistant gig by pitching something (yourself, in this case) in a way that makes people want to get onboard! You might not hear back, but what if you get a job that opens every door?

What is your top advice for writers who are a) querying; b) about to go on submission to editors; c) new debuts; d) established authors?

A: Be selective about who you send to and don’t settle for an agent who isn’t as great as what you and your work deserve.

B: Take up yoga and/or stock your wine cellar (i.e. find ways to take care of yourself through the process); start writing a new (unrelated) book.

C: Look for the joy in each milestone along the way instead of the fear. Remember that comparison is the thief of joy. Also, the Internet is forever.

D: Honestly all of the above! Ha!

What are some non-client books you each read lately that you loved?

Circe by Madeline Miller, Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing, The Big Ones by Lucy Jones & On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Would you rather have to bathe in vanilla coke every day for the rest of your life, or wear only clothes made out of meat a la Lady Gaga?

Victoria has generously offered a signed copy of THE FEVER KING and Holly and Taylor are offering a query critique for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through March 23rd. If you do not want to be included in the critique giveaway, please let me know in the comments. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book giveaway is U.S. and the query critique giveaway is International.

Here's what's coming up:

Monday, March 18th I have an interview with debut author Sabina Khan and a giveaway of her YA contemporary/multicultural the love & lies of Rukhsana Ali

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Gail Shepherd here to share about her MG historical THE TRUE HISTORY OF LYNDIE B. HAWKINS. It’s got a great setting—1985 Tennessee—and sounds like a story that will really pull at your heart. It releases on March 26

Before I get to today's interview, I've got my IWSG post.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Optional Question: Whose perspective do you like to write from best, the hero (protagonist) or the villain (antagonist)? And why?

I have never written from dual POVs and have always written from the hero's perspective. I think it's easier to get close to the protagonist, at least for me. But I do think about my villain and like to know about his life and not just make him the bad guy because I need a villain. I want that person to be a complex character too and have motivations for doing what he/she does.

What about you? Whose perspective do you write from?

Now let's to Gail's interview. Here’s a blurb of her book from Goodreads:

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

A Southern MG debut about a history-loving girl, Lyndon Baines Hawkins, whose relentless, hilarious, and heartbreaking search for the truth puts her in direct opposition to her fusspot grandmother’s need to keep up appearances. Lyndie knows lots about history: she can tell you who President Lincoln’s best friend was, the gruesome diseases of Civil War soldiers, and where her Hawkins ancestors built log houses near her home town of Love’s Forge, Tennessee. But when it comes to her Ma and Daddy, her knowledge is full of holes. Nobody talks about what happened to her veteran Daddy during the Vietnam war and why he “came home different,” or why her Ma stays locked in her room for days, or how come they had to sell the house Lyndie grew up in and move in with her strict grandparents. And Lyndie’s grandma, Lady, is determined to mold Lyndie into a “nice” southern girl who knows how to keep quiet about family secrets.

Lyndie struggles with universal questions: How can you help your daddy fight a battle with himself? What’s the difference between charity and love? When can you tell your grandmother exactly where she can stick all her well-I-nevers and don’t-you-dares? For fans of THREE TIMES LUCKY, BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE, THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE and WISH, this is an affecting novel with an irresistible and irrepressible voice.

Hi Gail! Thanks so much for joining us.

Hi Natalie, I’m thrilled to be here!

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

My first literary effort was the school Thanksgiving play, Poor Mr. Turkey, presented to the whole school in 4th grade, to mixed reviews. I wrote a lot of pretty good poetry in elementary school, lots of bad poetry in high school, and finally ended up with a creative MA in poetry/creative writing. After that I wrote anything anybody would pay for: book reviews, articles about rebar, ads for ladies’ underwear, catalogue copy for skateboards. I did some real journalism as a stringer for Peoplemagazine and Agence France-Presse. I published an indie newspaper with my brother, and then I got hired at Village Voice Media. I wrote long form crime stories and investigated our local white supremacist group for them; my favorite job there was as a restaurant critic. But I gained 20 pounds and regularly got food poisoning, so that was not a great long-term career option. The whole time I was writing fiction. When I got laid off from the paper eight years ago, I turned to writing a middle grade novel.

2. Awesome that you've always written. Where did you get the idea for THE TRUE HISTORY OF LYNDIE B. HAWKINS?

I started this story about 30 years ago as an adult novel. I grew up in the shadow of the Vietnam

War, which profoundly influenced my view of American history. I wondered what it would be like to grow up as the child of a veteran who was still suffering in the aftermath of that war. My mom’s family is deep south, from Alabama and Florida, so I wanted to put Lyndie in a southern family grappling with notions of truth, loyalty, and secrets that can be dangerous to keep.

3. Your story is set in Love’s Forge, Tennessee in 1985. What made you decide on this setting and time period? How did it shape your story?

The fictional town of Love’s Forge in the Smoky Mountains sits right at the crossroads of some pretty contentious history—The Trail of Tears, the vast Cherokee lands, white settlement, the Civil War where families were often split and fighting on opposite sides. Lyndie is struggling to make sense of that history—she knows what she’s been reading in her school textbooks doesn’t tell the whole story of her town or her country. And similarly, she’s not getting the real story about what happened to her daddy in the war, either. She’s a kid beginning to make sense of the world, to figure out who her family is and how she fits into it, and to find her own truth. Love’s Forge is riddled with historical conflict, with pride of place, so it mirrors what Lyndie is feeling.

4. This story is definitely character-driven and about Lyndie’s struggles with her family situation and her relationships with friends. How did you plot out her character growth or did that come to you as you wrote her story?

I’m definitely a pantser (or a plodder, although I’d love to be what my friend Maika Moulite calls a “prancer”). In other words, I really never know where a book is going until I’ve written the first (or sometimes second or third) draft. Lyndie was composed over several years, and questions about what knowledge is true, and how we shape our telling of history, became more and more pressing over time. So I wanted to show how she grappled with those questions. I’m also interested in how we misjudge or misunderstand people, even people we are very close to. And what charity is required of us. And how our friends can help us find the best parts of ourselves. I kind of grew with Lyndie as I wrote and revised her story, so I was making emotional and personal discoveries right along with her.

5. I love your term "prancer." What was a challenge you faced when writing this? How did you overcome it?

Originally I conceived Lyndie as Vietnamese American; her mom was a Vietnamese woman evacuated at the end of the war. As time went on and the #ownvoices movement began to evolve, I realized that writing a story about a biracial child of war was not my story to tell. And in fact, I’d been using that filter as a way to distance myself from my own story. You have to dig deep to write middle grade fiction as much as adult fiction, and it requires you to revisit some sad and confusing childhood places you may prefer not to. So the challenge was to let go of my original conception and go to places in my own history that were less than comfortable. My editor, Kathy Dawson, encouraged me to take up that challenge, and I’m boundlessly grateful to her for it.

6. That's great that you could make such a drastic change. Share about your road to publication. Did you represent yourself or do you have a literary agent?

I queried my first book, a middle grade sci-fi, widely and was signed by a generous and intelligent young agent, Kristin Miller, at D4EO, when the agency had a satellite group of kidlit agents. Kristin got out of the business to focus on her own writing—she’s now a successful MG author herself, writing as K.D. Halbrook. The head of the agency Bob DiForio kindly agreed to take me on when she left.

7.What social media platforms have you decided are the right ones for you? Why? How are you connecting with authors, bloggers, and readers on them?

I’m still working out my relationship with social media. I decided to be active on Twitter just with author-related content—craft stuff, writing news, giveaways, boosting other authors. I’m mainly connecting with authors, teachers, and librarians on that platform. But social media can, at times, make me feel a kind of existential nausea—it’s a lot of information to process. It’s kind of the opposite of the deep work you have to do as a writer. So balance is important, and it can be tough to maintain. I have to be very strict with myself to keep from being sucked into the vortex. But I’ve made a ton of online friends who have opened up countless opportunities for me. I’m particularly grateful to the ARC tour groups of teachers, authors and librarians, groups like #bookexcursion, #bookvoyage, and many others, who pass advance copies from reader to reader and are a bedrock of support for middle grade authors.

8. I"ll have to check them out. How are you planning to market THE TRUE HISTORY OF LYNDIE B. HAWKINS? What advice do you have for other authors who are planning for the release of their debut book?

I think debut authors tend to swing wildly at first—trying to do it all, marketing-wise, until they find that’s completely untenable. But the number one thing debut authors MUST do is join a debut group. The Novel19s (novel19s.com) have been invaluable. I’ve learned so much about the publishing business from that group, I haven’t even been able to absorb all of it yet. The Novel19s have a subgroup for middle grade writers, and we are pretty much all madly in love with each other. I’m also a member of the Class of Y2K Books (classY2kbooks.com), twenty YA and MG authors who have pooled financial resources to market our books—including placing ads, creating mailings, running social media contests and giveaways, and organizing events and conference proposals. They are an incredibly generous and talented group of people. And some Latinx debuts are also in yet another group, Las Musas (lasmusasbooks.com). I can’t recommend connecting with these groups highly enough. They will save your sanity in your debut year and give you all the tools you’ll need to market yourself and your books for years to come.

9. What are you working on now?

I’m drafting what I hope will be my next published middle grade novel, a historical story set in a Florida sawmill town in 1937. It’s about a trio of kids—a herbalist, a forensics nerd, and a young WPA photographer--who set off to rescue a mysterious creature and save the swampland they love. I’m also planning to write some short-ish middle grade stories to dramatize as podcasts with my sister, who is an amazingly talented screenwriter. And I have a couple of ideas for picture books I may fool around with. I was lucky to hear the novelist Sarah Aronson talking about the power of author “play” recently. I plan to do a lot of playing.

Gail has generously offered an ARC of THE TRUE HISTORY OF LYNDIE B. HAWKINS for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through March 23rd. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is U.S. and Canada.

Here's what's coming up:

Monday, March 11th I have a guest post by debut author Victoria Lee and her agents Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty with an ARC giveaway of Victoria's YA fantasy THE FEVER KING and a query critique giveaway by Holly and Taylor

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I'm excited to have Mary Kole here with a guest post on resubmitting to an agent or publisher. Mary is a former literary agent, and she now provides consulting and developmental editorial services to writers of all genres and from picture book to young adult. She also provides helpful information at her blog KIDLIT. She is also the author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit, a writing reference guide for middle grade and young adult writers, which is available from Writer's Digest Books.

Now here's Mary!

Can I Resubmit to an Agent or Publisher Who’s Rejected Me?

A very popular question I get is whether it’s okay to resubmit to an agent or publisher who has

already rejected your manuscript. Unfortunately, a lot of writers don’t end up successful with their initial efforts. Or maybe those submissions yield feedback that they now want to address. Manuscript hindsight is 20/20, after all, and you can’t know what you don’t know about your project until someone else points it out to you. (More on this in a moment!) It seems almost ... unfair that you’ve already submitted it.

Ideally, you will do several rounds of revision on your own, consult your beta readers and critique partners about your project, do several more rounds of revision with outside feedback in mind, put the manuscript away for a month (if only more people would follow this advice instead of considering themselves exempt), then come back for one more revision. Does that sound like a lot of work? It is. Because agents and publishers only pluck the best of the best out of the slush. Some writers even hire a freelance editor for some fresh perspective before they finally press “send” on a submission.

(If you are thinking that this advice doesn’t apply to you, or wondering what the heck a “beta reader” is, or you don’t have a critique group in place ... stop writing and submitting immediately and build up your tribe. You cannot function effectively as a working writer without at least one source of outside feedback. Writers are notoriously awful at seeing the opportunities for growth in their own projects.)

If you didn’t do any of this the first time, there’s good news. You can resubmit to agents and publishers who have rejected the project. Now the bad news. You can do so only once and only if you are willing to do the work described above this time. Agents and publishers understand that writers get too excited, and they are open-minded to considering a project a second time, but only if it has seen considerable revision.

Do not resubmit just because you believe you didn’t get a fair shake last time. You will likely get

more of the same rejection. Do not abuse their goodwill. Agents and publishers don’t want to see endless rounds of submission from you for the same project. They are not your critique partners, and they are not able to provide feedback on multiple rounds of submission. (Nor are they, honestly, interested in doing so.) With tens of thousands of queries a year, many of them resubmissions, it’s simply impossible for gatekeepers to give constructive advice to everyone who writes in. Agents make money by selling projects they think are promising. That’s it. Publishers make money by publishing the same. That’s it. Rent in NYC is expensive. While personal responses used to be a lot more common, many agents and publishers have gone to a “no response means no” policy. They don’t even send rejections anymore.

These are the logistics of resubmission. If you’re approaching the same agent or publisher, insert a sentence along these lines: “You reviewed an earlier draft, but this project has undergone significant revision.” (This has to be true, mind!) Many agencies have a “no from one is a no from all” policy, but in reality, it’s pretty flimsy since agents tend to keep their own slush piles. If you choose a different agent for your resubmission, you don’t have to explain the backstory, unless you feel morally obligated. You don’t want to lie, of course, but an omission here isn’t a huge sin. (With a publisher, this strategy sometimes doesn’t work, since it’s often hard to tell who actually reviewed your submission. Especially if you heard absolutely nothing back from the house the first time.)

If this article reaches you before you’ve submitted your manuscript, great. Slow your roll and do some revision instead. Submitting too soon, getting rejected, revising, and resubmitting isn’t a strong strategy. When I was agenting, I would see “frequent fliers” hawking the same project in my slush for years. And yes, I would start to recognize them. And no, they did not eventually wear me down. They looked more and more unprofessional with each round. Agents and publishers want to work with creators who know how to revise and who can generate new ideas, too.

And if you don’t yet have tools like a revision strategy or critique group in place, that’s the place to start, before you even thinkabout submitting a first ... or second time.

Mary's Bio:

Former literary agent Mary Kole provides consulting and developmental editing services to writers of all categories and genres, working on children’s book projects from picture book to young adult, and all kinds of trade market literature, including fantasy, sci-fi, romance and memoir. She has developed an intensive course on manuscript submission with Writing Blueprints.

Mary holds an MFA in Creative Writing and has worked at Chronicle Books, the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and Movable Type Management. She has been blogging at Kidlit.com since 2009. Her book, Writing Irresistible Kidlit, a writing reference guide for middle grade and young adult writers, is available from Writer's Digest Books.

Wednesday, March 6th I have an interview with debut author Gail Shepherd and a giveaway of her MG contemporary THE TRUE HISTORY OF LINDIE HAWKINS and my IWSG post

Monday, March 11th I have a guest post by debut author Victoria Lee and her agents Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty with an ARC giveaway of Victoria's YA fantasy THE FEVER KING and a query critique giveaway by Holly and Taylor

Monday, March 18th I have an interview with debut author Sabina Khan and a giveaway of her YA contemporary/multicultural the love & lies of rukhsana ali Hope to see you Wednesday, March 6th!

1. Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been doing as an agent.

Hi, Natalie! Thanks so much for having me. I’m quite new to agenting actually. I spent seven years on the other side of the aisle, working as an editor with Macmillan, where I was lucky enough to work with a few of Michelle Wolfson's amazing authors. I knew firsthand how much Michelle's authors loved her, and I knew WLA had a great reputation among editors, so when I decided to move into agenting last fall, Michelle was my first call.

About the Agency:

2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors.

Wolfson Literary is a full-service literary agency. We represent both adult and young adult commercial fiction, as well as select nonfiction. Many of our New York Times bestselling authors have been with WLA almost since its inception over a decade ago. Since we are a small agency with a small list, we are proud to offer very focused, personalized attention. Michelle has a business degree and built the agency with an eye toward managing careers versus just selling one book at a time.

What She’s Looking For:

3. What age groups do you represent—picture books, MG, and/or YA? What genres do you represent and what are you looking for in submissions for these genres?

4. Is there anything you would be especially excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in?

Right now, I’ve been loving YA suspense and psychological thrillers. I’m a big mystery reader on the adult side, and it’s fun to watch this genre grow and evolve in young adult fiction as well. I am always looking for YA romance; there’s just something about that first love story that never gets old. But I’d also love to see more friendship stories; maybe there’s still a romance, but the central plot is an amazing friendship. I want to see more stories about kids from blue-collar families, farming communities, small towns, or a unique region I’ve not seen before. I’d love to find a YA Indiana Jones, or a story with an international adventure. I also have a soft spot for vintage Hollywood, and I’d love to find a historical that captures this era.

What She Isn’tLooking For:

5. What types of submissions are you not interested in?

I’ve grown a little weary of hyper-insecure, bumbling protagonists who don’t know they’re pretty. Ha! You’d be surprised how much of this I still see. I’m always open to fairytale/myth retellings or magical realism, but I’m leaning away from epic fantasy right now. And I’m probably not the best fit for science fiction.

Agent Philosophy:

6. What is your philosophy as an agent both in terms of the authors you want to work with and the books you want to represent?

I want to represent career authors—true professionals who get excited about revisions and always have a new idea simmering on the back burner.

Editorial Agent:

7. Are you an editorial agent? If so, what is your process like when you’re working with your authors before submitting to editors?

Oh yes… Ha! It’s in my DNA. I get excited when I can tell how talented an author is but can immediately spot the little ways to take a solid manuscript to the next level. It feels like a puzzle and it’s incredibly rewarding when those pieces click together. I think the process varies each time, but having worked at a publishing house, I know what it takes to get even the best manuscripts through an editorial board, and it’s my job to ensure your manuscript is as close to perfect as I can get it.

8. How should authors query you and what do you want to see with the query letter?

You can reach me at amy@wolfsonliterary.com, and check out our full submission guidelines at wolfsonliterary.com. Just keep query letters simple: as they say—the hook, the book, and the cook. And if you need a little more help, we post advice, insider tips, and publishing news on the WLA blog.

9. Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you?

Just keep it professional. Your hook should tell me everything I need to know. And I read every query I’m sent.

Response Time:

10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?

This can vary, but we tend to respond to queries that interest us very quickly, usually in under a week.

Self-Published and Small Press Authors:

11. Are you open to representing authors who have self-published or been published by smaller presses? What advice do you have for them if they want to try to find an agent to represent them?

Absolutely. A great book is a great book, and while I definitely want to know about previous publications, I judge each manuscript on its own merits.

12. With all the changes in publishing—self-publishing, hybrid authors, more small publishers—do you see the role of agents changing at all? Why?

Yes and no. We are our clients’ fiercest advocates and biggest cheerleaders, so that hasn’t changed. We want authors to succeed in whatever their personal career goals may be. At the same time, self-publishing, hybrid publishing, more small publishers, etc., have opened up more opportunities for authors and we are here, as always, to help our clients evaluate opportunities and take advantage of the ever-changing landscape.

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

Well I’m just a couple months in, so I’m still eagerly looking for my first client. (So query me!) But some of WLA’s best-known clients include Kiersten White, Kasie West, Lauren Blakely, Lindsey Pollak, Tawna Fenske, and up and coming star Jessica Pennington, whom I acquired as an editor and am thrilled to still be working with on the other side.

Interviews and Guest Posts:

14. Please share the links to any interviews and guest posts you think would be helpful to writers interested in querying you.

Feel free to check out the Wolfson Literary website and blog for more specifics on what we’re looking for. We love connecting with writers there. And I’ve posted a little bit more about some of my favorite topics and tropes on my Manuscript Wishlist page.

Links and Contact Info:

15. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web.

Writers can query me at amy@wolfsonliterary.com (just be sure to write Query in the subject line), and feel free to follow me (@AmyStappNY) on Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest where I share my manuscript wishlist, current books I’m loving, writing tips, and publishing advice.

Additional Advice:

16. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?

The biggest mistake I see is writers submitting their work before it’s ready to be seen by an agent. It’s really exciting when you finally finish a manuscript you’ve worked on for months or even years. But take your time to workshop the manuscript with a critique partner or writers circle. Then attend a few writers conferences to learn as much as you can about the industry, taking time to think about what your long-term publishing goals are. Once you’ve done your homework, you can submit your work confidently, knowing agents like me are eager to find your unique voice.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Amy.

­Amy is generously offering a query critique to one lucky winner. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follower button if you're not a follower) and leave a comment through March 2nd. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest. If you do not want to enter the contest, that's okay. Just let me know in the comments. If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. This is an international giveaway.

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com

Note: These agent profiles and interviews presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found here is subject to change.

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today I am excited to participate in the Romance Is in the Air Giveaway Hop hosted by by BookHounds. This time I need to make my giveaway super simple and just offer an Amazon Gift Card. I'm really sorry, but I had no Internet for five days during the frigid cold weather the week before last. In addition, we've been dealing with a personal tragedy this week. I hope you understand.

To win some upcoming fantastic MG and YA books by debut authors, I hope that you will enter my contests listed above and in schedule below.

I'm already planning to participate in the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop that starts on March 15th and will offer a good selection of new books then.

For this this giveaway, one winner will win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

To enter, all you need to do is be a follower anyway you want and leave a comment through February 27th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is International.

Here's what's coming up:

Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 13th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Amy Stapp

Monday, February 18th I'm off for President's Day

Monday, February 25th I have a guest post by Mary Kole who has her own editorial service

Wednesday, March 6th I have an interview with debut author Gail Shepherd and a giveaway of her MG contemporary THE TRUE HISTORY OF LINDIE HAWKINS

Monday, March 11th I have a guest post by debut author Victoria Lee and her agents Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty with an ARC giveaway of Victoria's YA fantasy THE FEVER KING and a query critique giveaway by Holly and Taylor

Monday, March 18th I have an interview with debut author Sabina Khan and a giveaway of her YA contemporary/multicultural the love & lies of rukhsana ali

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Astrid Scholte here to share about her YA fantasy FOUR DEAD QUEENS. It’s got high stakes, a murder mystery, and forbidden romance—three things that make me excited to read it. It releases February 26th in the U.S.

A divided nation. Four Queens. A ruthless pickpocket. A noble messenger. And the murders that unite them.​Get in quick, get out quicker.

These are the words Keralie Corrington lives by as the preeminent dipper in the Concord, the central area uniting the four quadrants of Quadara. She steals under the guidance of her mentor Mackiel, who runs a black market selling their bounty to buyers desperate for what they can’t get in their own quarter. For in the nation of Quadara, each quarter is strictly divided from the other. Four queens rule together, one from each region:

Toria: the intellectual quarter that values education and ambitionLudia: the pleasure quarter that values celebration, passion, and entertainmentArchia: the agricultural quarter that values simplicity and natureEonia: the futurist quarter that values technology, stoicism and harmonious community

When Keralie intercepts a comm disk coming from the House of Concord, what seems like a standard job goes horribly wrong. Upon watching the comm disks, Keralie sees all four queens murdered in four brutal ways. Hoping that discovering the intended recipient will reveal the culprit – information that is bound to be valuable bartering material with the palace – Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the Eonist messenger she stole from, to complete Varin’s original job and see where it takes them.

Hi Astrid! Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

Thanks so much for having me! I used the Literary Rambles website all the time during my years of querying.

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be an author, writing my first "novel" at age 5. Another love of mine was drawing so I thought I should be a picture book illustrator. Back then, I thought I could write and illustrate my own books. It wasn't until years later that I found out most authors don't also illustrate their work.

While my passion for writing existed from a young age, I pursued a career in 3D animation and visual effects as I also had a love for the magic of movie making. I studied 3D animation at university and have worked (and still do) in the film, TV and animation industry. Working in film production is a taxing job, with long hours, so my writing took a backseat for a few years. It wasn't until 2012 that I finally finished a novel. It was a YA paranormal romance and I thought for sure it would be published!

I attempted to be published here in Australia, where you can submit directly to publishers. After getting close with one publisher (or what felt like close as they gave a detailed, positive rejection) I decided to query agents in the USA. Over 100 rejections later, with only one full request, I realized that like many of the characters in YA paranormal novels, the genre was dead.

That year, I attempted Nanowrimo for the first time and wrote 50K words of what would become my second completed YA novel, an elemental YA fantasy. This time, I went straight to agents in the USA, as I'd been told that speculative fiction was a difficult sell in Australia. I amassed around 80 rejections with that manuscript, but received 12 full requests and some positive feedback. A common response was that YA fantasy was oversaturated and my book wouldn't stand out in the market.

So I decided to try one more time. (In truth, I'm sure I would've kept going!) I wanted to combine all the things I loved about YA and fiction, including twists, morally gray characters, forbidden romance, secrets and murder mysteries. I also wanted to query as quickly as possible as I'd spent years on failed manuscripts. This book was Four Dead Queens. Luckily I didn't give up!

2. Yes it is good that you kept at it. Where did you get the idea for FOUR DEAD QUEENS?

This might sound a little cliché, but I had a dream where I was sitting in a horse-drawn carriage when a futuristic silver car flew past. When I woke, I wondered what kind of world would exist with such contrasting technologies and how this would impact the vocations, personalities, and dreams and desires of the people who lived there. I'm also a huge fan of murder mysteries and had this image in my head of multiple queens sitting back-to-back, discussing a murder from their shared court.

3. You have this fantastic teaser on your website: One big lie. Two forbidden romances. Three days to catch a killer. It makes me immediately want to read your book. How did you come up with this and all these fantastically compelling stakes in your story?

Thank you! The tagline was something Penguin Random House asked me to do and they had the idea of the 1, 2, 3 list leading up to Four Dead Queens. Luckily there were elements in the book that fit that numbering!

As for the stakes, I’ve always been drawn to high-concept and high-stake novels and it was something I wanted to create within my own work. I wrote a list of all the things I love in YA, fiction and movies/TV shows, a forbidden romance is something that I love in any story. I also love twists and turns and like keeping the reader on their feet, which required each queen to have a dangerous secret—or two! The secrets themselves evolved organically as I wrote the book. I wanted the secret to not only fit with the character but be in response to the quadrant they grew up in.

4. I love forbidden love too. What was your world building process like? How did you keep track of basically four different worlds?

In truth, there were originally six queens to keep track of, so four was much more manageable! J I

always knew I wanted the world to be divided and have distinct qualities that influenced the characters and their personalities and beliefs. I wanted the regions to be exact opposites of each other, as this always creates great drama! Eonia was the first quadrant that was solidified, with their focus on technology and medicine but with a repressed, controlled society. From there, I wanted a quadrant to be contrasting that, which was Ludia—the pleasure quadrant with a people who revel only in the lighter things in life. It was a bit of a balancing act, creating enough push and pull between the different quadrants.

The queens themselves are the embodiment of the quadrants, so I could develop both the characters and their regions at the same time, making sure their personalities rang true to where they came from.

5. This is a mixture of two genres: fantasy and murder mystery. What were the challenges in writing the mystery of Keralie trying to find the culprit out to kill the four queens? What advice do you have for other writers?

The challenge of a murder mystery is always going to be figuring out who the murderer is and why they would do it. You don’t want readers to be disappointed with the killer’s motives or have them figure out the culprit too easily. At the same time, you don’t want the reader to feel like they were misled. It’s a balancing act of hiding things from the reader while revealing clues in order to figure out the mystery. The reveal payoff has to be surprising as well as realistic—within the world you’ve built.

I actually didn’t know who the killer was myself until 1/3 of the way through the first draft. I then went back and put in clues, as well as red herrings!, so the reader wouldn’t feel cheated when they found out the truth.

6. The mystery part of it sounds complicated. Can't wait to see how you kept the good balance you describer. Did you plot this story out or wing it? How did this process work for you and what will you do differently next time?

I’m a pantser, so I never outline the plot. Most of the time, I have no idea where the book is going! I find that this works well for me as the book and characters evolved organically and I can discover the murderer as the reader would. Working this way means I revise more than other authors might, but revising is my favorite part of the process, so I don’t mind. I write all my books this way, and can’t imagine doing it any differently. I get creatively blocked if I try to write an outline before I’ve finished a first draft.

7. That must be hard with a mystery. Your agent is Hillary Jacobson. How did she become your agent and what was your road to publication like?

I signed with Hillary through PitchWars in 2016. She was one of the participating agents and she requested my novel through the agent round. A week later, she offered representation. It was surreal! Therefore, I didn’t actually have to query this novel, which was a relief after years of querying. I can’t recommend PitchWars enough!

I was very lucky that my road to publication with Four Dead Queens was so smooth. In under a year, I wrote the novel, got an agent and signed a two-book deal with Penguin Random House. But this was after five years of being in the query trenches with around 200 rejections over two different books, so I know the pain of querying!

8. You live in Australia, which must really impact on your marketing of your book in the U.S. How are you planning to promote it here? What do you think are effective ways to promote a book without being able to schedule many events in the U.S.?

It can certainly be difficult with timezones and I’ve spent numerous evenings up till 4am so I can participate in online promotions, such as cover reveals and pre-order campaigns. I’m very lucky that my day job takes me to the USA at least once a year, and I love Disney Parks so I try to go as much as possible, which has allowed me to attend some events in person, such as New York Comic Con and Yallwest. I definitely recommend international authors visit the USA in the lead up to their release, if possible.

As for promoting remotely, much of it has to do with timing. I’ve found posting late my evening/early morning EST works well for Instagram posts as does early my morning for Twitter posts. It’s not as easy as being in the USA, and I often feel behind the eight ball, but it’s certainly doable!

9. I saw on your website that you already have publishers of your book in nine countries. That’s so awesome! How did that come about? Any advice on getting a book published in other countries for other writers?

I am beyond excited to see my book written in another language! It’s an author’s dream come true! I have an amazing foreign rights agent, Roxane Edouard, at Curtis Brown UK who organizes my foreign rights. Roxane loves my book and has been a wonderful advocate from the beginning. My advice would be to look at foreign rights departments and agency partners when you’re researching agents. ICM Partners use Curtis Brown UK for all their foreign rights and they’re very strong in the market. The other piece of advice I would recommend is to try to only sell North American or World English rights to the USA, that way your agent can sell foreign territories themselves, rather than selling these to your publisher.

10. That's great advice about finding a good foreign rights/agent team. What are you working on now?

I’m currently working on what I hope will be my third published book, another YA fantasy about family, identity, and—of course—murder. I think fans of Four Dead Queens will really enjoy it. Next year, Penguin Random House will be publishing my second book which is another standalone YA fantasy/sci fi mashup which explores grief. I’ll be finishing the edits for this book later this year.

Astrid has generously offered a pre-order of FOUR DEAD QUEENS for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through February 23rd. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is International to anywhere that the Book Depository ships for free.

Here's what's coming up:

Tomorrow I'm participating in the Romance Is in the Air Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, February 13th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Amy Stapp

Monday, February 18th I'm off for President's Day

Monday, February 25th I have a guest post by Mary Kole who has her own editorial service

Wednesday, March 6th I have an interview with debut author Gail Shepherd and a giveaway of her MG contemporary THE TRUE HISTORY OF LINDIE HAWKINS

Monday, March 11th I have a guest post by debut author Victoria Lee and her agents Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty with an ARC giveaway of Victoria's YA fantasy THE FEVER KING and a query critique giveaway by Holly and Taylor

Monday, March 18th I have an interview with debut author Sabina Khan and a giveaway of her YA contemporary/multicultural the love & lies of rukhsana ali Hope to see you tomorrow!

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today I'm excited to have debut author Addie Thorley here with her agent Katelyn Detweiler here to share about Addie's upcoming YA historical fantasy AN AFFAIR OF POISONS that will be released February 26, 2019. It's about a major murder scandal in Paris in the reign of King Louis XIV. It sounds fantastic!

But before I get to our post today, I have my IWSG post. And I'm excited to be a co-host for the first time.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Optional Question: Besides writing what other creative outlets do you have?

I never saw myself as very creative until I started writing. It's one of the reasons that I enjoy it. It lets me express a party of myself that I didn't know existed. My only other creative endeavors are backstage work on community theater productions. There is some creativity to it, but it's also a lot of grunt work.

What about you? Do you have other creative endeavors?

Now onto my post by Addie and Katelyn. Here's a blurb of AN AFFAIR OF POISONS from Goodreads:

After unwittingly helping her mother poison King Louis XIV, seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is forced to see her mother’s Shadow Society in a horrifying new light: they’re not heroes of the people, as they’ve always claimed to be, but murderers. Herself included. Mira tries to ease her guilt by brewing helpful curatives, but her hunger tonics and headache remedies cannot right past wrongs or save the dissenters her mother vows to purge.

Royal bastard Josse de Bourbon is more kitchen boy than fils de France. But when the Shadow Society assassinates the Sun King and half the royal court, he must become the prince he was never meant to be in order to save his injured sisters and the petulant Dauphin. Forced to hide in the derelict sewers beneath the city, any hope of reclaiming Paris seems impossible—until Josse’s path collides with Mirabelle’s, and he finds a surprising ally in his sworn enemy.

She's a deadly poisoner. He's a bastard prince. Together, they form a tenuous pact to unite the commoners and former nobility against the Shadow Society. But can a rebellion built on mistrust ever hope to succeed?

Here's Addie and Katelyn!

Addie’s questions for Katelyn –

1. Katelyn, you're a literary agent AND a YA author, which means you’re basically Superwoman (I don't know how you have enough hours in the day!) How do you balance both careers and how do you feel they compliment one another?

Ha! Superwoman. I wish! Honestly, I’m the kind of writer who goes days/weeks/months sometimes without actually writing—I don’t need to do it every day, and I usually can’t do it every day. I have swirls of writing where I’m really caught up in a project and it feels great, and then times where I value TV binges and human interaction and reading other people’s words way more. But hard deadlines always take priority, whether it’s a time sensitive read for a client, or a submission that requires all my energy and attention, or a revision due date for one of my own books. That’s when sleep might take a hit! But that doesn’t happen too often—I’m usually pretty decent at compartmentalizing and making sure my work days are agency focused, and my nights and weekends are for writing and reading (…or Neflix). Personally, I think the two jobs go hand in hand well and it’s hard at this point to imagine one without the other—being an agent and reading so many other words makes me a better, more aware writer, and being a writer makes me a more understanding and sympathetic part of the process for my clients. The insider publishing knowledge also came in handy when writing my latest book, out this July, The Undoing of Thistle Tate, about a bestselling teen “author.” (Quotation mark use very intentional. ;))

2. I love the fact that you're both an agent and an author because you really understand the struggles and anxieties that come with querying, being on sub, and the revision process. What's one thing you wish authors/querying writers knew about agents? If you can, give us a peek behind the veil into some agent insecurities or things we might not know that effect whether or not you decide to represent an author.

I definitely understand those struggles and anxieties! Honestly, I feel all the same emotions for

my author’s submissions as I do my own. It’s hard not to feel those rejections on a deep personal level—I love the projects I send out, and I know all the tears and sweat authors have poured into their work. We agents may act cool, but we’re feeling all the feelings right there with you. And that goes for the good stuff, too! All the big and little victories. We truly are in it together.

I also truly feel the pang of sadness whenever I reject a submission I’ve received. I know the kind of love and time and determination that went into those words. Please know—it’s never easy to press send on those kinds of emails.

3. Since you have experience on both sides of the author/agent relationship, what would you say are the most important factors in a successful partnership? What do you look for in a client, and as an author, what do you expect of your agent?

COMMUNICATION. Definitely communication. Always. As an agent and as an author, I think transparency and honesty and openness are essential in a healthy, productive relationship. I really value an author’s opinions every step of the way, from what revisions to make, what the submission list will look like, what deal points matter most. I always want it to feel like a true partnership, like we are both sharing our insights and coming to the strongest possible strategy from there.

4. You represent authors of all genres and age categories, is there anything on your wish list that you're especially eager to find at the moment?

Honestly, I never know what I’ll love until I’m reading it. It’s all about the quality of the writing and the voice itself—does it feel fresh, unique, inspiring? I’m a sucker for a good retelling, using an old story and giving it an inventive twist that makes it feel totally new. And I’m always looking to read about different cultures, different places, perspectives outside of my own lived experience. Overall, I’m all about balance, as an agent and as a reader—fantasy and contemporary, adult and children’s, a little of this, a little of that. It keeps things interesting!

Katelyn’s questions for Addie –

1. Was becoming an author always the dream for you, or were there other career paths you had in mind? Was there a moment where it really clicked—that feeling that writing was your path, that you just had to do it, no matter how long/hard the journey to publication might be?

When I was young, I was determined to become a racehorse jockey. (I was absolutely obsessed with the Thoroughbred series!) Unfortunately, I grew waaaaay too tall (I’m 5’ 9’’) so when that dream died, I decided to become a journalist/reporter instead. I worked in radio and television news before becoming a YA author, and while I’ve always loved writing, I did not love writing hard news. It was just so dry and depressing. When my husband suggested I try my hand at fiction, I laughed and insisted I could never write anything as long as a novel. Fast forward seven months, and I’d written my first rough draft (which clocked in at 112k, so I clearly didn’t struggle in the length department!) It was such a fun and freeing experience. I could have as many opinions as I wanted! It could have magic! And kissing! I knew then that this was the career for me, no matter how long it took. And it took a looooong time! An Affair of Poisons is the fifth novel I’ve written. The other four will never see the light of day!

2. AN AFFAIR OF POISONS is one of the most wildly creative spins on a true historical event I’ve ever read. What was the inspiration behind the novel? What piece of the story came to you first? A character, a scene, the idea of alchemy, the time period?

This sounds totally creepy, but I have always loved poison. Something about smoky laboratories and bubbling cauldrons and dangerous, colorful bottles really calls to me, so I devoured every poisonous book and movie I could get my hands on. When I eventually began writing novels of my own, I knew I wanted to write a poison book. I just wasn’t sure who or what it would be about. One day, while doing research for a different project, I happened to read about the sorceress La Voisin and the scandalous event known as L'affaire des poisons (here’s a quick run-down: basically, members of the French nobility began hiring witches and poisoners to get rid of their bothersome husbands and rivals at court. It turned into a huge scandal that reached clear to the king’s inner circle.) I immediately felt that spark; I had found my poisoner at last.

I dove head first into research and was even more fascinated by the underground network of poisoners, magicians, and alchemists that La Voisin managed. I had a very clear picture in my head of a girl with crazy hair running around a laboratory, trying to make her mother, La Voisin, happy. The rest of the story spiraled out from there. One funny fact: in the first draft, Mirabelle made a love potion in the opening scene…which didn’t set the right tone AT ALL.

3. I must admit, I know very little about this period of French history—and I’m all for learning some of the basic elements with a little alchemy and magic and, of course, swoony romance! Has history always been a passion of yours? What was the most interesting part of your research?

Yes! I’m a total history nerd. As a kid, I ran around dressed like an orphan straight from the gutters of Victorian London (complete with the British accent!) and I could often be found scaling the rock walls in our backyard, pretending to cross the Rocky Mountains with a wagon train. (According to my sister, I was a horrible embarrassment.) I was just certain I had been born during the wrong time period; the past felt so much more magical and compelling. As I grew older, I immersed myself in historical fiction, biographies, and documentaries, as well as some truly stellar TV shows (Shout out to White Queen and The Tudors!)

Research is one of my FAVORITE aspects of writing historical fiction, and I learned SO MUCH while working on An Affair of Poisons. I think I enjoyed studying alchemy/herbalism most, though. I read alchemy books, of course, but I also read about 17th century medicine, and wiccan spell work, and poisons, and the medicinal and spiritual properties of plants. I wish I could be an actual alchemist.

4. As noted in the previous question: SWOONY ROMANCE. You wrote such a convincing, layered love story here, and somehow managed to do it without ever taking away from all the brilliant scheming and plotting and magical drama surrounding Mirabelle and Josse. Did you always know it would be a dual POV story? What was the hardest/easiest part of putting their love story on the page?

Ahhh I’m glad you think the romance is swoony! It only took me a million drafts to get it right. I knew from the get go that I wanted this to be a dual POV story, and I specifically crafted Josse and Mira’s characters so that they would challenge each other—both in good ways and bad. They are wildly different people, and certainly know how to push each other’s buttons, but they still have enough common ground to connect on a deep, emotional level.

Getting that deep connection to come across on the page, however, was probably the hardest part of bringing their love story to life. I knew in my head why they were perfect for each other, but slowing the plot down enough to let them have those moments to really connect was something I had to work on during edits.

The easiest part was definitely their snappy banter. There were so many times while drafting and editing when I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Thanks so much for all your advice, Addie & Katelyn! You can find them at:

Addie has generously offered a pre-order of AN AFFAIR OF POISONS and Katelyn is offering a query critique for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through February 23rd. If you do not want to be included in the critique giveaway, please let me know in the comments. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is International to anywhere that the Book Depository ships for free.

Here's what's coming up:

Monday, February 11th I have an interview with debut author Astrid Scholte and a giveaway of her YA fantasy FOUR DEAD QUEENS

Tuesday, February 12th I'm participating in the Romance Is in the Air Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, February 13th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Amy Stapp

Monday, February 18th I'm off for President's Day

Monday, February 25th I have a guest post by Mary Kole who has her own editorial service

Wednesday, March 6th I have an interview with debut author Gail Shepherd and a giveaway of her MG contemporary THE TRUE HISTORY OF LINDIE HAWKINS

Monday, March 11th I have a guest post by debut author Victoria Lee and her agents Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty with an ARC giveaway of Victoria's YA fantasy THE FEVER KING and a query critique giveaway by Holly and Taylor

Monday, March 18th I have an interview with debut author Sabina Khan and a giveaway of her YA contemporary/multicultural the love & lies of rukhsana ali

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo here to share about her MG contemporary RUBY IN THE SKY. It sounds like it has a diverse cast of characters and deals with hard issues while staying positive. I can’t wait to read this! I even entered the Goodreads giveaway when writing out Jeanne’s questions, something I rarely do anymore.

Here’s a blurb:

When twelve-year-old Ruby Moon Hayes and her mother move to Vermont, Ruby’s goal is to stay as silent and invisible as a new moon in the frozen sky. She doesn’t want kids at school asking about her missing father or discovering that her mother has been arrested. But keeping to herself isn’t easy when Ahmad Saleem, a Syrian refugee in her class, decides he’s her new best friend. Or when she meets “the Bird Lady,” a recluse named Abigail who lives in a ramshackle shed near Ruby’s house. No one in town understands Abigail — people whisper about her, about her boarded-up house and the terrible secrets she must be hiding.

As Mom’s trial draws near and Abigail faces eviction, Ruby is forced to make a choice: break her silence or risk losing everyone she loves. Ruby’s story is about the walls we hide behind and the magic that can happen when we are brave enough to break free.

Ruby in the Sky has won the SCBWI Work-in-progress Award for Middle Grade Fiction (2016), the PEN-New England, Susan Bloom Discovery Award (2016), the Tassy Walden, New Voices in Children’s Literature Award (2015), and the Ruth Landers Glass Scholarship at the spring NE-SCBWI annual conference (2016). It will be published by Farrar Straus Giroux/Macmillan February 5, 2019.

Hi Jeanne! Thanks so much for joining us!

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

Hi! Thank you for having me! I don’t feel that I became a writer – as much as writing has always been a part of who I am. Growing up, I dealt with challenges by writing about them in journals (most of which I still have!). Writing gave me the perspective I needed to get through difficult times. But when I “grew up,” I didn’t know how to translate my love of writing into a career (or maybe I just didn’t have the confidence to try…) anyway, I ended up working in the United States Congress, and later as an attorney. In both settings, I experienced the power of the written word, firsthand. Ultimately, I returned to writing for my favorite audience – kids.

2. You're part of the trend of attorneys becoming writers! Where did you get the idea for RUBY IN THE SKY?

There are so many parts of Ruby that come from my life. The “spark” that ignited Ruby’s story emerged from a memory of an elderly neighbor who, every afternoon after school, would bring my brother and I to handfeed chickadees at an abandoned house in our rural town. It seemed so normal at the time (didn’t all kids do that?). But now, amidst the noise of my present-day world, I think back to the quiet solitude of those visits – the neglected house in winter and the fact that this lonely man took time to make sure the birds were fed – and I realize how magical it all really was. That memory was the initial idea that outlined Ruby’s story, but so many more of my experiences have colored in the lines – especially the years I spent as a public defender.

3. That's great that you've drawn on your legal career. Your book tackles some hard issues—homelessness, a missing dad, and a mother who was arrested. Yet I’ve read that you kept a good balance of Ruby feeling sad and staying positive. How did you create this balance in your writing? What advice do you have about tackling hard topics like this in a middle grade novel?

I once heard an interview in which Natalie Babbitt was asked if she thought children should be exposed to difficult topics (such as death in Tuck Everlasting). She gave a marvelous answer about how children face tragedy all the time, and are much more resilient than given credit. I completely agree. As a public defender for many years, I met the children of my clients who came to criminal court with their parents. In my experience, these kids were incredibly brave and resilient. Beauty and strength can be found in some of the most difficult situations. I wanted to make sure Ruby realized that strength, too.

4. Ruby’s new friend is Ahmad, a Syrian refugee in her class. How did you learn about his culture enough to feel like you could accurately portray him in your story?

I love this question because I get to talk about the AMAZING refugees I have been so honored to

meet through the organization, Integrated Refugee & Immigration Services (IRISCT.org) in New Haven, CT. A group of young men and women refugees read Ruby as paid cultural consultants. Over several months, we met and discussed the story. I learned so much from these amazing young men and women and am still in awe of their stories, insight, intelligence and courage. I am so lucky that I’ve been able to continue to work with IRIS and continue to meet people who inspire me every day.

5. That's great how you connected with refugees. Your story is really about memorable characters that grow with the story, especially Ruby. What did you learn about character development from writing your story and what advice do you have for the rest of us?

I learned a lot about the value of time – especially taking the time to live with your characters. Over the course of writing Ruby, I took time to live with each character and get to know them. I don’t know how else to explain it, but it got so that I was so excited to get back to my manuscript just so I could re-enter their world and spend more time with each of them.

6. Your book has won the SCBWI Work-in-progress Award in the Middle Grade Category (2016), the PEN-New England, Susan Bloom Discovery Award (2016), the Tassy Walden, New Voices in Children’s Literature Award (2015), and the Ruth Landers Glass Scholarship at the spring NE-SCBWI conference (2016). Wow! Share about how this all came about and how this helped you improve your writing and story.

For me, submitting to contests was a way to critically improve my writing. But, it is important to know that with each of the aforementioned successes came manyrejections. But I never gave up. With each submission, I revised, tightened and re-worked Ruby’s story, making it better and better. The Tassy Walden Award was Ruby’s first success and it changed everything for me. I am so honored that Ruby has been recognized by each of these organizations and am so grateful for each vote of confidence that kept me writing, revising, submitting, and ultimately led to publication.

7. Your agent is Stacey Glick. How did she become your agent and what was your road to publication like?

8. I read on your website that you were part of Brenda Drake’s pitch wars community in 2016. What was that like and how did it help your writing?

The answer to both of these questions actually go together! PitchWars was an incredible experience. My mentors were the amazing authors Laura Shovan and Tricia Clasen. When I think of those months working with them on Ruby, I seriously tear-up with nostalgia because it was such an incredible experience. Ruby in the Sky had won a lot of awards, but the story still wasn’t working. Laura and Tricia really dug into my manuscript to help me find the heart of Ruby’s story. The entire PitchWars community was kind and nurturing and so amazingly supportive…and let’s not forget talented! It was a phenomenal experience that led me to my wonderful agent, Stacey Glick! Stacey requested my manuscript from the Agent Showcase at the culmination of PitchWars. I had seen Stacey speak at the Rutgers One-on-one conference and already admired her so much. So, when she offered representation, I was beyond thrilled.

9. That's a great story! How are you marketing your book when it releases? What made you decide to promote your book in this way?

I am a member of the #Novel19s and would highly recommend joining a debut group. Even though I haven’t had the opportunity to meet any of my fellow debut novelists in person (yet), I already feel like I know them. Everyone has been so supportive and encouraging – like a big kid-lit family. I’ve reached out to area schools, bookstores and libraries and have already begun setting up talks and even a graduation address! Additionally, I was a Girl Scout leader for many years and have reached out to scout organizations. My goal is to meet as many young readers as possible!

10. What are you working on now?

I am currently working on another middle grade novel titled A Galaxy of Sea Stars:

As Izzy Vitale (12) begins sixth grade at the new regional middle school, she wants nothing more than to keep her tight-knit group of friends – dubbed the Sea Star Posse since kindergarten – together. But when Sitara (12) and her family leave Afghanistan and move into the upstairs apartment at the marina where Izzy lives with her father and grandmother, Izzy begins to realize there exists a world much larger than her small, safe harbor in Seabury, Rhode Island. When someone starts leaving hateful notes in Sitara’s locker, Izzy is determined to find their source. But what she learns will force Izzy to make a decision: remain silent and betray Sitara or speak up for what she knows is right and possibly lose the Sea Star Posse forever. A Galaxy of Sea Stars is a story about family, loyalty, and the hard choices we face in the name of friendship.

Jeanne has generously offered an ARC of RUBY IN THE SKY for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through February 9th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is U.S.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Here's what's coming up:

Wednesday, February 6th I have a guest post by debut author Addie Thorley with her agent Katelyn Detweiler with a giveaway of Addie's YA historical fantasy AN AFFAIR OF POISONS and a query critique giveaway by Katelyn

Monday, February 11th I have an interview with debut author Astrid Scholte and a giveaway of her YA fantasy FOUR DEAD QUEENS

Wednesday, February 13th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Amy Stapp

Monday, February 18th I'm off for President's Day

Monday, February 25th I have a guest post by Mary Kole who has her own editorial service